MR. McCLELLAN: Okay, a few
things. First of all, the President had his usual briefings this
morning. In California today and
tomorrow, the President will focus his remarks on our nation's two highest
priorities, winning the war on terrorism and strengthening our economy.

Today, he will spend part of his time talking about the
importance of expanding home ownership to improving economic security. And if
you'll recall, in June 2002 -- we have a fact sheet on this -- the President
outlined his home ownership initiative in Atlanta,
Georgia. He announced the
goal to close the home ownership gap by increasing the number of minority home
owners by 5.5 million by the end of the decade.

Let me give you a little bit about the --

Q How is he doing on
that goal?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he actually
is going to talk about that. That's in your fact sheet, as well, in terms of
how many new home owners there are since he announced the initiative. Let me go
to Ruiz Foods, where we'll be and where he'll participate in a meeting on
housing and the economy with some of the -- with the owners of Ruiz Food company. Let's see who else it will include -- Secretary
Martinez, who is traveling with us and some new home owners that will
participate in that meeting, as well.

Ruiz Foods is the largest manufacturer of frozen Mexican
food in the United States.
They have about -- they have over 1,200 employees, almost all are Hispanic. The
company -- and the President will probably talk about this -- will soon launch Una Casa Para Mi Familia. It's a
home ownership initiative aiming to help every Ruiz
team member who wants to own a home. The program partners with the Department
of Housing and Urban Development and their pilot project to raise home
ownership levels and strengthen the local community. And it also partners with
several private sector and non-profit groups to provide home buyer education
and training to its employees.

One aspect the President will talk about on his home
ownership initiative is the American Dream down payment fund,
that the President proposed and unveiled in April, 2002, to help
first-time home buyer families. Let me give you a little bit more on -- way back
in June of 2002. The Home Ownership Initiative includes that, the American
Dream down payment fund, and this provides $200 million in down payment funds
that would be granted to states and local -- localities for down payment
assistance. And then another part of his initiative was a single family
affordable tax credit, to encourage developers to increase the supply of
affordable homes. A third aspect was education for families about the process
and responsibilities of home ownership, and a fourth, regulatory reform and
simplification of the home buying process.

Currently, the House has acted on the home ownership --
actually the American Dream down payment act, and the Senate still needs to act
on it.

So he'll participate in that meeting. Then he'll make
remarks on the economy and his two highest priorities in the war on terrorism
at Ruiz Foods. And then the President makes remarks in Fresno
at a Bush-Cheney luncheon, and then this evening in Riverside
at a Bush-Cheney reception.

And we have two statements. Do you have those -- did you
already hand those out? We have two statements -- one on Japan's
announcement about providing some significant financial assistance to the
efforts in Iraq,
and two, a statement by the President on the terrorist attack on the diplomatic
convoy in Gaza earlier today.

Q Are those out in Washington,
do you know?

MR. McCLELLAN: We will be putting
these out momentarily on the ground in California,
as well as in Washington.

Q What does it mean
for the peace process?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, look at
the President's statement. Let me -- should I just give it to you?

Q We don't have it
yet.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, let's give it
to you now.

MR. McCLELLAN: Do we have a copy
of the fact sheet?

MR. DECKARD: Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on.

(Pause.)

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm glad to take
whatever questions. You have the statement from the President.

Q Has he made any
calls to anybody as a result of this attack this morning?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President was
-- no, not at this point. The President was informed by his National Security
Advisor early this morning.

Q Was he awakened, or
just informed after?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President was
called early this morning. I believe he was already awake at the time, but
early this morning.

Q He called him back
in the Residence, before he had come down?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q What does it mean
for the peace process, then?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think
if you look at -- if you look at the statement, again, there needs to be a
unified security force under the Palestinian Prime Minister and a cabinet that
is committed to dismantling the terrorist infrastructure. That is the way
forward to the two-state vision outlined by the President on June 24th of a
year ago.

Q Apparently, there's
a dispute between the Prime Minister and Yasser
Arafat over control of security forces.

MR. McCLELLAN: We continue to urge
the Palestinians to unify those security forces under a Prime Minister who is
empowered and committed to cracking down on terrorism.

Q Does he blame the
Palestinian leadership for this --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you have in
his statement what the President says, that the Palestinian Authority should
have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms. And the failure to create
effective Palestinian security forces dedicated to fighting terror continues to
cost lives. All parties have a responsibility to fight terrorism, and all
parties need to take steps to work together to dismantle the terrorist
infrastructure.

Q Does the
Palestinian leadership bear some of the blame? Does the Palestinian leadership
bear some of the blame?

MR. McCLELLAN: The failure to
crack down on terrorism and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure continues to
cost lives. And that's why we continue to urge Palestinian authorities to unify
their security forces under a Prime Minister who is committed to and empowered
to fighting terrorism.

Q That failure
continues to cost lives, including these lives?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, you have the
President's statement on that. I think I've just addressed that.

Q Scott, are you
taking any additional steps to protect U.S.
diplomatic personnel there?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's always a
high priority. I think those decisions are made by the people on the ground.

Q Scott, it seems
that things are going backwards in that part of the world. Is the President --
you're now referring to his vision. What kind of progress has been made? It
seems like it's all going in the other direction?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, some
important progress was made after Aqaba.
Unfortunately, you had a Prime Minister in Prime Minister Abbas,
who was taking some important steps to improve security. But he was undercut by
Chairman Arafat. And we've always said there would be difficulties along the
way, but we will continue to emphasize that the foundation for moving forward
is a Palestinian Prime Minister and cabinet that is committed to fighting
terrorism and has a unified security force under its command.

Q Will the United
States feel free to retaliate for this attack?

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, we're going
to work with appropriate authorities to bring those responsible for this
vicious attack to justice.

Q Is the President
going to say anything about this on mic later on?

MR. McCLELLAN: You have it in his
statement. That's what I expect. I just expect the statement.

Q --
public remarks?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't expect him
to. He made a very strong statement.

Q Isn't it stronger
when he, himself, says it to the world?

MR. McCLELLAN: You've heard from
him.

Q The Schwarzenegger
meeting tomorrow, that is still closed? There is no plan for any coverage?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think at this
point, again, this is a courtesy visit. The President is going to California
and the Governor-elect was just elected. The President
looks forward to meeting with him. The Governor-elect is expected to attend the
event after the meeting, so they will be together there, so you will get a
chance to see them together there.

But at this point, I think I would just plan on a photo
release of the actual meeting between the two.

Q Schwarzenegger's
not speaking, right? I mean, he'll be there?

MR. McCLELLAN: I believe he may be
introducing the President. He may be introducing the President.

Q At
the event?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q Was that their
choice or your choice that there is no coverage of the meeting?

MR. McCLELLAN: This is a
one-on-one meeting between the two leaders. You'll have coverage of them
together at the event later. Those are always things that are discussed
together.

Q What will the
President's message to the Governor be?

MR. McCLELLAN: He looks forward to
sitting down and meeting with him. Again, I think you should view this as a
courtesy visit. While the President is in California,
he wanted to congratulate him personally, and this will be an opportunity, too,
to discuss some of their shared priorities.

Q Will the President
do mostly listening to what the Governor brings to him?

MR. McCLELLAN: We'll try to give
you a readout after the meeting. Let's let the meeting
take place.

Q Has he got any
goodies in his pocket to bring?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, this
is the first time that they've had an opportunity to meet since the
Governor-elect won his election last week. So I think the President looks
forward to hearing from him, the President looks forward to visiting with him.

Q Does the
administration now believe that a U.N. resolution is going to happen? Have you
heard from France,
Germany and Russia?

MR. McCLELLAN: We have made
some additional changes to the resolution and we expect that as early as
this afternoon there will be a vote on the resolution. So we are moving forward
on this, believe it's a good resolution, and it's one step that will help
broaden international support and participation in Iraq
even more. There are already, as you are aware, a number of nations
participating in the efforts in Iraq.
The President has said that the international community shares a responsibility
for helping the Iraqi people realize a secure, democratic and prosperous
future. And there comes a time for countries to decide if they are going to
join the other nations' international efforts in Iraq.

Obviously, we appreciate the announcement by Japan
earlier today to provide some financial assistance.

Q Do you expect you
have the votes for the U.N. -- this afternoon?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we expect to
go forward as early as this afternoon. Secretary Powell and Ambassador
Negroponte continue to have discussions with their counterparts.

Q --
with the votes? Discussions or votes?

MR. McCLELLAN: They continue to
have discussions with their counterparts. The resolution is before the Security
Council now. They I believe will be going back this afternoon to discuss the
resolution, so that's why we expect a vote could happen as early as this
afternoon. We believe we have addressed some of the concerns that were raised,
that have been raised.

Q When were these
additional changes made?

MR. McCLELLAN: There were
discussions that occurred when the resolution was introduced yesterday, between
that time and today. The discussions happened, changes were made I believe late
yesterday.

Q Can you tell us
about those changes?

MR. McCLELLAN: It addresses some
of the issues in terms of the transferring of responsibility. What we put
forward yesterday, yes, that's still a part of it. Anything
else?

Q Do you know offhand
how many times the President has been to Asia? I mean,
not only as President but also as Governor and private citizen.